Candace Davies ’00, MBA ’06:

Long Distance Giving

By Mark Rader, MFA ’02

A private wealth advisor and vice president at
Goldman Sachs since 2006, Candace Davies
and her team work with a wide range of clients,
including individuals, family estates, non-profits, and corporate endowments. It’s a position, she
says, that requires “strict adherence to a long-term plan, even when that’s hard to do.” Outside
of the office, Davies has begun taking on a different sort of endurance challenge: training for and
participating in marathon runs and bike events, all for the sake of charity.

Davies says she “caught the charityendurance-
event bug” in the summer of
2009, when she joined Goldman Sachs’
Bike MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Team. Her
initial motivation for joining was finding a
sense of community. However, when her
father suffered a stroke on the day she
had organized a major fundraiser for the
National MS Society, Davies’ sense of
purpose intensified; although she didn’t
know anyone battling MS personally, she
now understood more acutely the pain of
seeing a loved one struggle with serious
health issues. Thanks to her and her
teammates, Goldman Sachs raised nearly
$250,000 — more than any of the other
companies participating nationwide. As
a reward, the team got the opportunity
to ring the opening bell at the New York
Stock Exchange, “an awesome experience,” Davies says.

Simultaneously, Davies began training for her first marathon with the Lymphoma and Leukemia
Foundation’s Team in Training, inspired by her father’s courageous fight to recover from
his stroke. Every Saturday morning throughout the winter, even the frigid morning following a
record-setting February blizzard, she and her team put in time on the sidewalks of Manhattan. On
a morning that was too icy to run outside, Davies, undeterred, ran 14 miles on the treadmill. All
her hard work paid off: On April 11, Davies crossed the marathon’s finish line in Paris, and shortly
after, the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society received a check for more than $450,000 from the
New York City team, to be put towards blood cancer research and patient services.

This winter will find Davies training for another marathon-for-charity — this one in Miami.
She’s doing it for donations, of course, but also because she has come to treasure the camaraderie
she has with her fellow runners.

“The reputation runners have is that they’re upbeat,” Davies says. “This group is that and
more. They’re the most inspiring, beautiful people.”